Red
by sajiwara
Summary: Life hated him. He was back, but it seemed like everyone else has already moved on. Even the girl who had once confessed her love for him is treating him with indifference. Sasuke had helped Naruto defeat Madara, resulting in Konoha winning the war - but it felt like he had lost everything for a second time. Sasusaku. Slight Narusaku.
1. Chapter 1: The End

**RED**

**Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. **

**A/N: **My writing has been rusty due to the fact that I haven't written an actual story since like high school. I'm still trying to re-edit this chapter, but I'm having the hardest time getting it to my liking. So not wanting to spend another hour reading this again..I just decided to upload it. And now, I'm going pray that I actually finish this story.

Enjoy!

**Chapter 1: The End **

* * *

He was back.

That was the first thing that came to her mind as she stared at the white ceiling. She knew where she was. She had spent the last six years trying to prove herself, prove that she was a capable kunoichi so that the next time she saw him, he would finally acknowledge her in some shape or form. But all that effort was rendered futile when she realized that no amount of hard work or dedication she had, would succeed in landing a blow on him, let alone bringing him back.

Their latest meeting was during the last bit of the war. Madara taken her captive knowing that Naruto would eventually come looking for her. She had been on the verge of losing consciousness when she caught a glimpse of Naruto and Sasuke heading her way. But it was those two words that came out of Sasuke's mouth, that killed the last thread of hope of ever saving that boy – _man_ she thought she loved. _"Kill her."_

"Haruno-san, you're awake! How are you feeling?" Sakura recognized her as one of the nurses she had been training before the war broke out, Yuki or something.

"How long have I been out?" She tried to sit up but felt a wave of nausea hit her before falling back on her pillow.

"Three days now. Naruto came by not so long ago to see you."

_Naruto. _Trying to fight the dizziness, Sakura pushed back the covers and let her feet touch the cold floor. "Where is he?"

"Haruno-san! You can't get up yet! He just went to check up on Uchiha-san. He usually comes back later."

Sighing, she climbed back into bed.

"If you need anything, just call me. I'll come check up on you later!" Sakura nodded and Yuki quietly closed the door behind her.

Right. He was back.

She'll just have to wait until Naruto briefs her on Sasuke's condition. Years ago, if someone asked Sakura how she felt about Sasuke, the answer would have been automatic – _that she still loved him. _But now, her thoughts were a mess. Over the years her friendship with Naruto had grown to the point where the line had started to blur. She knew he was still in love with her, albeit not in the same way as when they were twelve, but it was something deeper. It was no longer that childish infatuation, but utter devotion and caring that Sakura couldn't understand. She didn't know what he saw in her. Although Naruto didn't out rightly display his affection for her anymore, there were times when she would catch him looking at her.

_"Well, this is nice. Naruto, thanks for walking me home."_

_Silence. _

_"Naru-"_

_Sakura was about to comment on his non-talkative behaviour tonight when she realized he had stopped and had been looking at her. Their eyes locked. At that moment, she didn't know what it was that she felt. All movement seemed to have come to an abrupt stop. Sakura had never seen him look at her like that before, and it made her stomach do flips. Even in the dark, Sakura could see the blue. Clear Ocean blue. She could almost see her reflection _– wait, what? Since when did she get so close?

_"Um..." It was her who broke eye contact first. _

_"Hey, Sakura-chan…I know it's a little late.. and I know you're probably tired..but.." _

Since when did asking Sakura out on a date become so hard? He's done it plenty of times before.

_"But, do you want to go to Ichiraku's? My treat! And-and it doesn't have to be a dat-"_

_"Okay."_

That was when it all first started. That one _date _led to another and another and another. Sure, she might not have liked Naruto in exactly the same way she liked Sasuke, but it didn't meant that she _didn't _like Naruto at all. He had also gotten more attractive over the years, and Sakura was definitely not the only one who noticed. During the other dates, she saw those timid smiles the various girls from the village gave and the giggling from the trail of his mini club of fangirls.

Not to mention the many annoying _Hello, Naruto-kun's _he got in a morning.

Naturally, she felt uncomfortable – _jealously _and her anger would often flare, leaving Naruto in confusion.

_-Snap- Sakura broke the chopsticks she was holding in her hands._

_"Uh…Sakura-chan, if you didn't want ramen, you could've told me earlier.."_

_"You're right, I don't like ramen. But I'm sure that one of those girls from this morning would like some!" _What the hell was that, Sakura? Why would you say something like that?! _"I..I'm sorry, Naruto. Let's just eat." _

_She looked away and quickly buried her face in her bowl, however not missing the way the corners of Naruto's lips lifting slightly, almost in a teasing manner. _

_"Whatever you say, Sakura-chan." _

Because of the war, the progress of their relationship had been put on hold, with her duties as a medic-nin and him being the kyuubi container they were all trying to protect. But that wasn't the only thing on pause. Her feelings, or what's left of it anyway, for a certain avenger were finally beginning to fade. All those moments spent with Naruto made her forget the ache in her heart, and as her feelings for Naruto grew stronger, those for her ex-teammate weakened.

How was she supposed to know that he'd be less than thirty feet way from her right now? How the hell did she not consider the possibility that he'd _actually _come back, despite all the other failed retrieval attempts? This was not taken into account. Now, it felt like someone taken all of her feelings and put them into a jumbo lottery machine and random thoughts were being spitted out.

God, this was hurting her head. _Sakura, stop thinking so much. _

She rolled over onto her side and forcefully shut her eyes. _Go to sleep._

* * *

"With that being said, report to my office next week, just because you killed Madara doesn't mean you're off the hook. I'll have to speak with the council before deciding on your punishment."

"Hn."

"You should be grateful, Uchiha. If not for your sharingan, you'd be facing death right now! So don't you dare give me that attitude!" Tsunade was in good mood even though her voice didn't show it. To be honest, she was glad that Madara was dead and that the war was over. Seeing the amount of bloodshed each day reminded her of the Second War, except this time, she was not out on the battlefield. Instead, she was forced to watch her precious people sacrifice their own lives to protect their nation. Which, in her opinion, was worse.

However, the return of the Uchiha did complicate things…

"Teme! You hear that?! We're finally going to be together again!" Naruto was the happiest of them all; he had been looking forward to this since the day Sasuke left Konoha. "Me, you, Sakura-chan, and hell – even Sai! Team seven is back!"

"Naruto, Tsunade-sama didn't restore his status as a shinobi. He can't be a part of team seven.." Kakashi turned his eyes towards Tsunade. "Yet."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. She knew that he was trying to pressure her into lightening the punishment and allowing them to reinstate team 7. Kakashi might not have shown it, but she knew that he still blamed himself for the whole Sasuke predicament. He had taken ridiculously dangerous missions near the sound border in hopes of catching the Uchiha, and everytime someone reported a sighting of him, Kakashi would be the first to volunteer to investigate.

"Like I said, I'll have to speak with the council." Although she already knew that the Uchiha's return would not sit well with those two hags, she'll just have to make something out of it. "Let's go, we'll let these two catch up."

"Well, I'll see you two later," Kakashi hopped off the window ledge and walked towards the exit. Before closing the door, he added, "Oh, and Sasuke? Welcome back."

Sasuke smirked. _Finally. _

"So teme…" Naruto Naruto had gone through different scenarios in his head on how to get their team back together, but so far this was not going as planned. This was…for a lack of a better word – _awkward. _"Are you feel–"

"Is she dead?"

Naruto closed his mouth and blinked. "Is that all you have to say? After leaving her on the bench six years ago, and not to mention trying to kill her, that's all you have to say?!" Naruto was furious. Yes, Sasuke was his best friend, but that doesn't give him a free pass back to Sakura.

Sasuke turned his head to meet Naruto's eyes. "So is she?"

Naruto had spent the last couple of years trying to help Sakura forget about the pain this bastard had caused, and now Sasuke decides to care. He was not going to let this happen again. Sakura deserved someone better. He wasn't about let Sasuke trample her heart for a second time. So he got up, gave that jerk one last glare and left.

Sasuke watched him leave and narrowed his eyes when he heard the door slam shut. He let out the breath he had been holding since asking that question. Naruto didn't answer him. He had been getting answers all evening but didn't get the answer to the one fucking question he had cared about the most.

How the hell was he supposed to apolo – _explain _if he didn't know if Sakura was dead or not?!


	2. Chapter 2: Unwanted Reunion

**RED**

**Chapter 2: Unwanted Reunion **

* * *

Sakura stared out her office window, looking at the leaves falling off the tree one by one. Red, orange, and yellow. It was the beginning of November and the weather has gotten rather chilly. Usually, she'd sit on her couch with a cup of tea and a nice book on her days off from work, but they had a number of emergency surgeries today and she was called in last minute.

Most of the time, she didn't mind spending extra hours at the hospital, but today was different. The reason why she was called in was because Tsuande was away at the meeting with the council to discuss about Sasuke's punishment. She didn't even know how she knew about this fact. A part of her thought maybe Naruto had mentioned it during the week, or maybe Shizune might have told her while they were eating lunch; but she knew she couldn't deny the real reason of how she purposely eavesdropped on the nurses gossiping about the much anticipated meeting.

He had only been back for a week, and even though she hadn't seen him at all, it felt like his mere presence in Konoha alone drained all her energy. He was released from the hospital the day after he got back – _not like she paid attention, _but apparently he insisted and threatened to release a Katon on one of the nurses.

She had taken detours around the village to avoid seeing him, and made sure to only leave the house when necessary. She even woke up extra early to visit the supermarket, knowing that he was never a morning person, so she could do her grocery shopping.

So yes, she was tired, and if she heard another thing about the Uchiha, she was going to snap.

_Knock knock. _

"Come in."

"Haruno-san…um, your teammates just got admitted into the hospital, they seem to have, um…" the nurse that came into the room shifted uncomfortably and Sakura wondered what kind of trouble they had gotten into now, and by they, she really meant Naruto.

Sakura let her head fall back on her chair and sighed for the umpteenth time this evening. "It's okay, I'll take it from here."

She is never getting a break at this rate.

* * *

"So, what are you going to do?"

Naruto heard a soft thud as Sasuke let his head fall back against the wall. "Sasuke?"

"I don't know, Naruto."

"Are you going to tell her?"

_How could he? How could he tell her something like this? _Sasuke continued to stare into space, hoping that an answer would pop out at him, or maybe if he prayed a little, he wouldn't have to suffer with the outcome of his punishment.

"Sasuke…stop ignoring my question."

"You ignored mine."

"Well, you found out for yourself, didn't you? She's alive. You happy?"

_Yes. _That's what he really wanted to say. But in honesty, he was more relieved than happy. He didn't mean for her to get hurt – at least not in the way in which he saw how Madara was slowly torturing her in front of him. This was why he didn't bring her along with him when she asked him back then. He knew she would get in the way. _Always _in the way. With her ridiculous bubblegum pink hair, and her overly expressive eyes, she always managed to get under his skin.

It didn't matter whether it was back in their genin days or when they had their little reunions in between the years, Sakura was too annoying for her own good.

But all those feelings didn't matter right now. He wanted to see her. Even if it was only a glimpse, he wanted to see with his own eyes, that she was still breathing. Seeing Madara nearly thrusting a kunai in her heart made his blood run cold. He only then realized that it was _him _– the boy whom she loved and trusted, was the one who mirrored Madara's movements at their encounter under the Samurai Bridge.

But that was not the time to feel guilty. He knew Madara was using her as bait, and so he did the one thing that would probably make her hate him. He didn't care at that moment, she could spend all her life hating him, as long as she was doing it _alive_.

_"Kill her."_

_He saw Sakura's half-closed eyes flicker open for a brief moment before falling shut completely. _

_"WHAT THE HELL, SASUKE! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" _

_"Shut up, Naruto. She's your teammate, not mine." _

_"Tch. Sasuke. Still so coldhearted. You really wouldn't care if I killed her right here, right in front of you?"_

_"Go ahead. I'm here for you, not for her, you bastard." _

_Madara's right hand clenched Sakura's hair tighter and with one swift motion, he threw her across the field. "Sasuke, watch your words. How could you do this to Itachi, after he sacrificed his life for you? How can you ally with Konoha, the very place that destroyed your family. _Our _family?"_

_"Shut up! You lied. You used Itachi for your own goals, you had him take full blame for the massacre! I'm going to kill you!" _

_Madara laughed. "You think you can kill me, Sasuke. But after today, I will be the last standing Uchiha." _

_"Not if I can help it." Naruto was suddenly behind him, hand raised with a Rasengen. _

_Madara's eyes narrowed. "Ah, spoken like the true of son of the Yellow Flash." He turned slightly, avoiding the attack, but not without catching the bright blue chakra of Sasuke's Chidori from the corner of his right eye._

Killing Madara, was the single best decision he made in life. But at the expenses of what? He would never forgive himself for listening to that bastard. Madara fed him lie after lie, causing him to kill the one man who loved him most, and nearly killing the girl who had made a crack in his heart.

Now, she would never forgive him. Twelve year old Sakura would have been by his side throughout the night at the hospital, she would have latched herself onto him once he was released. But no, eighteen year old Sakura didn't visit him, nor did she even try to find him afterwards.

Sasuke closed his eyes again, and was about to slide back into bed before the door to their room swung open.

"Naruto! Why is it always you – " Sakura's eyes widened. It didn't register until now when the nurse had said _teammates _earlier. She assumed by teammates, she had meant Sai…and not...

"Sasuke."

* * *

Tsunade poured herself another cup of sake and tossed it back. _I'm seriously not getting paid enough for this. _

The meeting with the council regarding the punishment of Uchiha Sasuke finished four hours ago, yet this headache was still killing her. She had never been close to the Uchiha, so naturally, she didn't give a crap about whatever punishment he got. However, Sakura and Naruto did. And that fact alone made her want to pass on the duties of Hokage to Naruto immediately.

The council, namely Koharu and Homura, had come to a conclusion and didn't even bother listening to her arguments. So the consequences were set.

Sakura has yet to burst into her office demanding a retrial, so Tsunade assumed that either the news haven't gotten to her yet, or she no longer cared. Tsunade was praying that it was the former, so that she would have enough time to fix this.

Naruto had been present during the meeting, and she could tell that he was very close to tackling the elders. She promised him that she would find a solution but so far, after four hours of sake and sitting in her office, her mind was still blank.

One Naruto screaming at her was enough, she didn't want a Sakura breaking things in her office.

This was going to be a long night, and she needed more sake.

"Shizune!"

* * *

"Annnnnd, done. Now, make sure you get plenty of rest and _don't _attempt another Rasenshuriken again without engaging in sage mode!"

Naruto gave her a sheepish smile. "I won't, I won't"

"Seriously, what were you thinking?!"

"We were just sparring, Sakura." Sakura's hands stiffened. Sasuke was talking to her. It had been six years since she heard that smooth, velvety voice. She told herself all the other times they've encountered each other didn't really count; _that_ Sasuke wasn't _her _Sasuke. Not like he was hers now…but he was back, and that had to account for something. Right?

She briefly glanced over at him. Seeing him and hearing his voice reminded her of his numerous attempts at killing her. She couldn't even look at him in the eye for long without tears forming. "Whatever."

Sasuke's fingers dug into the bed. There were a lot of things Sasuke didn't do. And displaying emotions, was one of them. He wasn't really sure why most Uchiha's acted this way, but every since he was little, he witnessed many guys from his clan pull on an emotionless mask. He thought it was the appropriate thing to do. And so when he was still in the academy, he would reject all offers of cakes and sweets from girls.

The number of fangirls he had wasn't a surprise to him. He had learned to ignore them a long time ago, but when Iruka had placed Sakura on his genin team, he felt like breaking the desk in front of him. Having the _dobe _on his team was bad enough, but he now had to endure every single mission with a raging fangirl who had an obnoxious mop of pink hair.

Little did he know, the very same girl had grown up to become the Godaime's apprentice. Her hair was still the brightest shade of pink, but somehow, he had grown to like it. During the time he stayed with Orochimaru, he often wished he could see her bright hair in contrast to the darkness of his hideout.

Her eyes were still a shade of pale emerald green. And they should have clashed with her hair colour…only it didn't. It made her look like a pale version of Christmas. She radiated warmth and reeked of life.

Therefore, when the first thing she did after coming into the room was to rush to Naruto, he wanted to yell at her. He wanted to ask her what the hell she was doing over there, when she should be by his side. Since when did Naruto become her favourite? Since when did she start giving Naruto the same caring look _he _had received when he was younger?

His controlling Uchiha ways didn't let him maintain this emotionless mask any longer. He had to say something to break her concentration.

He just couldn't believe that she brushed him off with a _"whatever"_. He wanted to tell her, right here and now, about his punishment, then maybe she'll come running to his side again. But he was incapable of forming the words, he couldn't bring himself to be so selfish in wanting her attention only when it was on someone else.

He was a selfish monster. He had pushed her away all these years, but now seeing that she has moved on made him angry when he had no right to be.

When she finally finished healing Naruto, she walked over to him slowly, eyes still not meeting his. He saw her raise her hand with a pale green glow, but at that point, he didn't want to care. She was only healing him because it was her duty as a medic to do so, and not because she wanted to.

He did the last thing he wanted to do, and it'll probably break her even further, but he had to. He slapped her hands away. "I don't need you."

Sakura was hurt; he could tell by the way of her eyes welling up, and the slight tremble of her lips. He half expected her to heal him anyway and tell him that it was okay.

But she didn't, and with one last deep breath, she turned and walked back out of the room.

Sasuke watched her go and was surprised Naruto didn't intervene and scream at him for being an idiot. When he looked over at the blond, he saw Naruto looking straight ahead with an empty expression. He knew that expression, it was the same one he wore when Sakura was tending to Naruto instead of him.

He may have been gone for six years, but one fact didn't change.

Naruto was still in love with Haruno Sakura.

* * *

**A/N: **Uhh..I'm iffy about this chapter, but horray for the fast update! School will probably start eating me away next week though..

A big thanks to all the readers - and yes, even the silent ones: you guys rock. If you guys find errors, just PM me so I can make the changes.

And no, you shall not know about Sasuke's punishment till the next chapter. Har har har.


	3. Chapter 3: False Confessions

**RED **

**Chapter 3: False Confessions **

* * *

"Sakura."

Sakura has never hated her name more.

Today was a Saturday and she had her night planned out before her — actually..more like _Ino _had planned out for her. According to the said blonde, this was the proposed rundown of Sakura's night: go hit up the usual bar, flirt, get drunk, and end up sleeping with some cute guy.

And so, here she was — walking home from her shift when she heard her name. She was never a big fan of going out, but at this moment, alcohol looked pretty tempting.

"S-Sasuke…" It has been another two weeks after the day Naruto and him were admitted into the hospital due to a sparring session, yet she still couldn't look in him the eye. So she opted to stare at the empty space beside his head. "What are you doing here?"

"Where are you going?"

She figured he'd ignore her question. When had he not?

"Home."

More silence. She could feel Sasuke's stare, so she secretly thought that it was her cue to say goodnight and get out of his way. "Um yeah, so I guess…I'll just go…See you around, Sasuke.." Just as she made her way past him, she felt a grip on her forearm. Sakura's eyes widened as she turned around.

Emerald met obsidian. For the first time since he's been back, their eyes met. Sasuke watched as her eyes widened under his stare. Was that fear in her eyes? Suddenly he felt her gently trying to tug her arm back.

"Uh-uh, Sasuke.." Her voice was a whisper. Eyes darting back and forth from his face to where his hand was. The last time there was any sort of physical contact had been when he had slapped her hand away during the hospital visit, and the time before that — was when he held her neck and tried to kill her. She would have been lying if she said she wasn't at least a little frightened at the sudden touch.

"The hangout at the bar." Sasuke asked (which, to be honest, was more of a statement than a question).

"What?"

Sasuke's lips thinned. What part of that didn't she understand? "Meeting the others. Are you going?"

Sakura knew staring was rude, but to say she was _staring _at Sasuke was an understatement. Sakura's mother would have scolded her for being so unladylike — mouth slightly open, eyes gawking at the raven haired boy before her.

Knowing that Sasuke meant no harm, she quickly closed her mouth and relaxed her posture."Yes?"

She didn't know why she answered him with such a questioning tone, but maybe it had to do with the weird behaviour Sasuke was exhibiting tonight.

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed slightly but dropped her arm.

"Fine." And with that last word, he slowly turned and walked away, choosing to ignore Sakura's shocked expression.

* * *

Naruto was on his fifth cup of sake. He didn't know why he bothered coming to Ino's little weekly get-together. He was thrilled Sasuke was back — he really was, but ever since then, he hadn't spoken to Sakura much. He knew it had something to do with the Uchiha's return.

Naruto and Sakura's friendship had blossomed during the years Sasuke was gone. Just two years ago, before Madara had declared war on the five nations, Naruto had finally struck up the courage to ask her on a real date again.

And she finally accepted.

After a couple of more dates, he realized that there was a possibility that there was room in her heart for him after all. Naruto knew that her feelings for Sasuke still existed, but maybe after all these years of being by her side, she'd finally divide some of that love.

There were cues as to why he thought Sakura might have had feelings for him.

First, he had noticed that her foul mood swings were more prominent whenever a girl said hi to him.

Second, there was a time when they went to a sushi restaurant (Sakura's choice, of course) and their fingers accidentally touched when he handed her a cup of tea. She blushed.

Third, during one of Ino's parties, he had gotten fairly drunk and Sakura had to take him back to her place. Naruto was a restless sleeper and when he was drunk, he was worse. He woke up the next morning, with his arm was around Sakura's waist while her face was against his chest. When she woke up, he didn't suffer from severe beating nor did his ears suffer from her yelling…all he got was a smile and a _"I'll go make breakfast." _

He wasn't as dense as everyone thought he was, he knew she felt something too. He had planned to confess, but of course, things never go the way they're planned.

_Fuck you, Madara. _Naruto was still bitter. And now that everything has finally come to an end, Sasuke decided to come back. Which meant that Sakura's old feelings might resurface.

Naruto looked down at the bottle. What was he on…? His eighth cup of sake now? Damn his Kyuubi chakra. He was still only tipsy. He remembered why he came here tonight, he had wanted to drown his thoughts about Sakura and just get wasted so he wouldn't have to think.

But like always, things never go the way they're planned, because at that moment, Sasuke had decided to show up.

Naruto rolled his eyes. _Great…_

* * *

Sakura ran home and headed straight to the shower. Letting the water hit her face, she tried to recall what had just happened. If that person had been someone else, her behaviour right now would have been considered slightly crazy. But, this wasn't just someone else. This was _Sasuke. _

_The _Uchiha Sasuke. Things like furrowing his brows and asking her a question out of curiosity just doesn't happen.

She had every reason to react this way. Sasuke was a man of purpose. He had a reason for everything he did, and tonight was definitely planned. Sakura was sure that he had the intention of waiting for her, but she just couldn't figure out the reason behind it.

So, after a long shower and a million impossible conclusions later, she figured out a viable solution.

Sake.

* * *

The first thing he did when he entered the noisy bar was to look for her. After much thought, he had wanted to talk to her privately about everything that had been going through his mind ever since he came back. The problem was — he couldn't sense her chakra anywhere.

"Oi, teme!" Naruto waved his arm in the air, trying to catch Sasuke's attention. As much as Naruto didn't want to speak with Sasuke right now, that bastard was still his best friend. "I thought you weren't coming."

"Hn."

"Come on, man. Stop looking like you want to kill someone… at least get a drink." Before Sasuke could even respond, Naruto added, "Sake for him too."

When the sake came, Naruto expected Sasuke to just ignore the bottle and continue glaring. However, Sasuke just grabbed the entire bottle and walked towards the back exit.

"HEY, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! SASUKE!"

"Naruto…you don't have to be so loud. It's troublesome enough that Ino dragged me here."

The voice made Naruto jump. "Man, Shikamaru, don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I wasn't. I was here the entire time." Shikamaru sighed. Not that he minded being a wallflower, but he had been sitting here the entire time, and clearly Naruto was too focused on his teammate to notice.

Shikamaru watched Sasuke's back as he left through the back door, bottle of sake in hand. Shikamaru was a smart man, and everyone in the village knew about this fact. Initially, he had been the first to be promoted to Chunin status, and many wondered why he didn't enter the Jonin exams. No doubt that he'd pass, but he didn't feel like the effort was worth it.

Being a Jonin also doesn't indicate how smart you are. Shikamaru may not be one, but he's smart enough to realize the Uchiha's sole purpose of coming today. He was in search of his pink haired teammate. He noticed how the avenger's eyes wandered across the crowd before settling beside Naruto. He personally wasn't close to Sasuke, but this also meant that no one else was really close to him either, with the exception of the original Team 7.

Through the process of elimination, he concluded that Sasuke must have been trying to spot Sakura. That was a no brainer.

Turning back to the blond ninja, he realized that Naruto must have figured this out too, considering his slumped shoulders and less talkative behaviour tonight.

"I know why he's here."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you do?"

Naruto ignored the friendly jab. "We're friends, right, Shikamaru?"

"Uh…sure."

"Can I talk to you then?"

"You're talking to me right now, Naruto." Shikamaru wasn't a big fan of conversation. Especially the ones that involved such a personal topic. He's had his share of whining and complaining from Ino, and wasn't really in the mood for more.

But Naruto was Naruto, and he'd talk regardless.

"Do you think Sakura still likes Sasuke?"

"I don't know, do _you _think so?" From experience (mainly because Ino always yelled at him for being wrong), it's best to always answer a question with a question. This was the number one technique in his books.

"Well… she hasn't done anything to show it."

"There you go."

Naruto's face scrunched up. "But…that doesn't mean she _doesn't? _Do you know what I mean?!"

God must have heard Shikamaru's prayers, because Sakura had perfecting timing. Tilting his head towards the front door, Shikamaru replied, "Or maybe you can ask her yourself."

At that, Naruto immediately straightened his back and looked expectantly over to Sakura. When Sakura finally looked over, she smiled and started to walk over.

_Maybe I do have a chance. _

"Hey, Naruto."

"H-hi, Sakura-chan," His heart sped up at the sight of her. She still managed to have the ability to affect him, even after so many years and despite the fact that she might still have feelings for the bastard. "You look really good tonight…"

Sakura laughed lightly. "Thank, Naruto, but this is how I usually dress anyway." And this was true. She never had the bravery to wear dresses two sizes too small for her, or those that have plunging necklines like the number Ino had chosen. Like usual, she either wore jeans, or a simple black dress — like the one she currently had on.

"You still look good," Naruto paused and hesitantly added, "like always."

Sakura smiled again. "Are you going to let me stand here, or are you going to get me a drink?"

"W-what, oh! Excuse me, can I get more sake over here?" Naruto laughed nervously and ran a hand through his hair. "Whoops."

"So…what's new?"

"Nothing real-"

"Naruto-kun! Hi!" Sakura turned to look at the three newcomers. Three girls, all with dresses that showed an ample amount of cleavage and legs, surrounded Naruto. She rolled her eyes and muttered quietly to herself, "Clearly, nothing's new."

Little did she know, Naruto caught every single word. He did a little dance inside his head and made a mental note to talk to random girls more often so he could evoke this jealous side of Sakura.

She slammed her cup down and the grip on it tightened. Go figure. The two most important men in her life were ignoring her. What did she do to deserve this? She gestured the bartender to refill her bottle. With every cup she drank, she mentally cursed the idiot.

_Stupid Naruto. _

Drink.

_One moment he says I'm pretty, the next, he's flirting with a bunch of his fangirls. _

Drink.

_Tacky fangirls. _

Drink.

_Maybe he likes it when girls dress like that. _She didn't agree with her inner self on this one.

But she took another swig anyway.

"Hey, hey, Sakura-chan. Slow down. You're going to get drunk." Naruto tried wrenching her cup from her hand, but her training with Tsunade certainly got in the way (seriously, it's not fair that she's this strong).

"Nnoo." Sakura hiccupped. "Just go-go talk to your little girlfriends." She was _not _drunk, maybe a little tipsy and warm after almost finishing the bottle, but she didn't have an alcoholic mentor for nothing. She was not this weak.

Knowing she would continue if she stayed in here, Naruto decided that some fresh air would do her some good. "Let's go outside for a bit." He pulled her up and tried to guide her towards the front door.

Sakura wrinkled her nose. "No. Let go, Naruto!"

He ignored her and continued dragging her, using a little more force this time. "Narutoooo!"

Because of his abrupt stop, Sakura nearly crashed into his chest. Her head snapped up and was about to yell at him for being such an asshole but her eyes widened when his lips met hers. At first, she was too shocked to do anything. They were in a bar, for goodness sakes. Sakura mentally calculated how the hell this was going to do down tomorrow. _Everyone _in the rookie nine was present.

Naruto noticed that she hadn't pushed him away yet, so he took this as a good sign.

She suddenly felt his lips moving shyly. At which point, Sakura decided to screw everyone else in the bar and closed her eyes.

Sakura parted her lips slightly and allowed him to deepen the kiss. However, before anything else could happen, a voice startled both of them.

"Glad to see you're enjoying this."

Sakura quickly used her hands to push Naruto away, and turned to the owner of the voice, looking like a deer in the headlights.

"Sasuke…"

She had never seen him so angry at her. She bit her bottom lip, feeling rather guilty about the kiss. _Why are you feeling guilty, it's not like you guys are dating. _Sakura mentally kicked her inner self and told it to shut up.

"Teme." Naruto was so focused on Sakura the entire time, he didn't even notice Sasuke's chakra. Stepping in front of their female teammate, Naruto tried shielding her from Sasuke's glare.

Sasuke stepped forward, looking Naruto straight in the eye. "Outside. Now."

* * *

"Huh, so Naruto has finally made his move, eh?"

Kakashi turned his head back to the infamous womanizer sitting across the table from him. "Those are my students, Genma. No one's making a move on anyone."

Although, he's definitely going to have a little talk with Sakura. As her sensei, and father figure (a very young and still mighty good looking father figure, he added), it was his duty to warn her about the dangerous men out there. Though Naruto could hardly constitute as dangerous, he still didn't want him to lay hands on the innocent girl.

"Well, if he isn't, maybe I wil-"

"I dare you to finish that sentence."

"Okay, okay! Just kidding, sheesh!" Genma held up his hands in surrender just as Kakashi disengaged his Raikiri.

Kakashi lowered his arm and looked around the bar. Gai was trying to comfort a crying Lee, while Ino and Tenten were whispering and giggling.

Hinata looked like she was about to burst into tears too, while Kurenai gently patted her on the shoulders.

Kakashi closed his eyes, Shikamaru was right after all, this _was _troublesome.

* * *

Sakura stayed behind Naruto the entire time once they left the bar. She tried telling herself that there was no need to feel guilty — she didn't betray Sasuke. He already rejected her confession six years ago, and he made it very clear that he didn't love her. But still, she couldn't face him right now. Not after having kissed his rival teammate.

"You're a liar, Sakura."

Sakura was confused. What did she lie about?

"So how long did you wait before finally hooking up with him?" Sasuke knew he shouldn't be using such a condescending tone with her, but he was just so fucking angry.

"HEY! Don't you DARE say that about her."

"What? Struck a nerve, dobe?"

Sakura was livid. So _this _was what he was on about? The nerve of the guy. He betrays the village, and nearly kills the team — and he has the audacity to act so immaturely. And here, she was feeling a little guilty! She gently tugged on Naruto's elbow and stepped forward.

"Go away, Sasuke."

Sasuke smirked and shook his head. "No more Sasuke-kun? Your standard in men has surely dropped."

At that comment, Naruto made a lunge but Sakura managed to hold him back. "Actually, Sasuke-_kun, _thanks to you, my taste in men are better now. At least I know Naruto here won't try to kill me."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously. Having her defend the blond idiot made his blood boil. She had once sworn her love for him, and promised that she would do anything as long as he stayed. He was starting to think that she had been lying. He already lost everything once, he was not going to lose her over to a dead last.

"So you don't care about me anymore?"

"What?! I always cared about you, Sasuke! It was you who pushed us away." Unfortunately, this was true. She couldn't deny that she still, very much, care about Uchiha Sasuke. She didn't display her affection anymore, but she knew that the love was still there. She couldn't distinguish if it was the same type of love she used to have for him when they were younger or not, but nonetheless, it was present.

"No. No you don't. You don't care anymore. If you cared, then you would've asked me about my trial."

"I —"

"If you did, you would've came to see me."

"Sas-" Sakura was shaking her head, trying hard not to cry. She was not going to cry again.

"SASUKE! STOP IT!" Naruto knew where this was going, he was going to tell her about his sentence. It was not fair for him to do this.

"Then you would have known, Sakura. I got the death sentence."

Sakura froze. She swear that her heart skipped a beat. It was only when her face felt wet, did she finally notice that she was crying. All the years of pent up anger and sadness was finally showing. She had trained herself not to be so weak, but once again, Sasuke has broken her resolve.

She wanted to hate him for making her feel this way — for destroying her over and over again. To keep hurting her like this. She wanted to hate him for everything he's ever done, and that he deserves whatever punishment he gets.

She wanted to yell at him. She wanted to scream that she hated him.

But she couldn't; and instead, she was crying while Naruto gently put his arms around her.

"Fuck you, teme. Why the hell did you tell her?"

In an instant, Sasuke was in front of Naruto, holding him up by his collar. "Don't. Touch. Her."

Naruto shoved Sasuke off while throwing a punch at him. Sasuke dodged just narrowly and stepped back.

Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched his hands. "Go to hell."

When Naruto was first informed about Sasuke's death sentence, he had thrown a fit, threatening to destroy Tsunade's office if she didn't take it back. He didn't want the bastard to die, no matter how much he has hurt Sakura, and so he decided if all else fails — he'll just have to rescue Sasuke on the day of his supposed death. He just didn't want Sakura to find out about this right now because he knew she wouldn't handle it well.

Evidently, Sasuke must have felt threatened enough for him to implement such a low move.

"S-sttop i-it."

"Sakura-chan…"

"L-let's just g-go. Please."

Naruto softened at her cracked voice. Tears were still streaming down her face as she took his hand and started walking away. He let her drag him towards the direction of her house, but not before shooting Sasuke one last warning look.

Sasuke watched her cry. He watched as she rounded the corner and disappeared from his sight. He hadn't meant for this, but envy clouded his eyes when he saw this two teammates kissing earlier. It was no surprise that Naruto liked Sakura, but he didn't expect her to kiss him back. He had broken the cup in his hand and made a beeline towards the two.

Sasuke needed her to come back to him. He didn't want to lose everything for a second time.

* * *

**A/N: **And there you go! There's chapter 3 (finally)! Yay for some Sasusaku/ Narusaku goodness!

I swear, my chapters are getting longer and longer. Not really sure if this is a good thing or not because it now takes me forever to edit. ALSO! Fixed the em dash problem in this chapter. Stupid document.

I'm getting my umbrella ready in case some of you want to throw tomatoes (ha. see what I did there?) at me for giving Sasuke the death sentence. But seriously, I'm too much of a Sasuke fangirl to let him die. So... don't worry too much.

Thanks for reading!

P.S: If you find mistakes, please PM me so I can fix it. Writing at 3am is seriously a bad habit..


	4. Chapter 4: Orbital

**RED**

**Chapter 4: Orbital**

* * *

_Her skin was so smooth, her lips so soft against his. Her body—writhing slightly under his as he tried to stifle a moan. _

_She was so beautiful under the moonlight, and most importantly, she was his. All his. It wasn't Naruto that was making her feel this way, and it wasn't that dobe's name that she was whispering. _

_He planted kisses along her jawline, tracing his fingers in a circular pattern on her hips. _

_"Sasuke.."_

_"Kun," Sasuke wanted her to use the honorific from when they were kids. _

_"Sasuke…"_

_He stopped and looked into her eyes, "Say it, Sakura." _

_"Sasuke-kun..." _

_He closed his eyes and lowered his lips on hers again. _Much better, _he hummed. _

_His hands inched upwards—his thumb slowly traced around the curve of her breast. As she arched against him, her breasts slightly grazed against his chest. His breath was ragged, he needed more. All of it. He needed—_

"SASUKE!"

Sasuke jolted awake, breathing heavily, letting his blanket pool around his waist.

"SASUKE!"

He glared at his bedroom door, somewhat disappointed that someone had woken him from his dream.

"SASUKE-TEME, OPEN UP BEFORE I KNOCK YOUR DOOR DOWN. I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

Of course, it would be Naruto this early in the morning. Sasuke was not a morning person, and he clearly remembered that none of the members of team 7 were either. This had better be important, or else he'd have to kick that dobe all the way to Suna.

Groggily, Sasuke made his way to the front door and swung it open. "What."

"Come on, Sasuke! Let's go eat breakfast together," Naruto replied, choosing to ignore the early morning death glare Sasuke sent his way.

"No."

Sasuke made a move to close the door, but unfortunately that blond idiot caught it on time. "Come onnnn, you're not going to live very long anyway, might as well enjoy it with your best friend!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at Naruto's words. _Some best friend. _

"Aw, don't give me that look, teme. I wouldn't let them kill you. Granny Tsunade promised me! Besides," Naruto slapped his back, "I'll totally break you out if anything happens!"

What he said was true, and despite last night's nasty ordeal outside the bar—Sasuke was still his brother. If the stupid council insists on executing Sasuke, then Naruto would rather be known as the traitor who helped his best friend escape, than to be known as the future Hokage who obeyed the rules but didn't do anything.

Kakashi was right after all—those who abandon their friends, are lower than trash.

"Go away," Sasuke growled, clearly annoyed that Naruto was still here.

"Fine, fine, fine…I guess I'll just tell Sakura-chan that you're too much of an asshole to co—"

"Give me five minutes." Sasuke interrupted, and with that, he slammed the door shut.

* * *

Naruto was in a good mood. He had successfully dragged Sasuke to breakfast at Ichiraku's (because ramen _totally _constitutes as breakfast), albeit putting Sakura on the table. But the teme was going—and that's what really mattered.

This would be the first official team 7 outing since Sasuke's return, and Naruto had been waiting for years for this moment. Sure, he wanted to kill Sasuke for making Sakura so upset last night, but they were a family, and family members never stayed mad for long.

That… _and_ he'll just have to sit in between them so Sasuke doesn't make a move.

_Only because I don't want another argument, _Naruto told himself, _and not because I'm scared that Sakura might like him again. Nope. _

"Stop smiling."

Naruto turned his head, smiling even more prominently. "Then stop sulking. And be nice to Sakura-chan when you see her."

"Hn."

"And apologize."

Sasuke glared. _For what? For being executed? _But he made a mental note to do so anyway, however, _alone _with Sakura.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke was so busy racking his brain for ideas on what to say to Sakura once he gets her alone, it didn't occur to him that they had already arrived at Ichiraku's.

"Hey, Naruto…" Sakura hesitated, "Hey…Sasuke."

Sasuke gave a curt nod and looked away. He couldn't look at her right now.

_No, he'll explain this later._

* * *

They ate in silence. Well… _almost _in silence, Naruto's incessant chattering was the only thing keeping Sakura from running away. But even then, she didn't pay him much attention, only smiling or nodding when needed.

Which was ridiculous, seeming as it was only yesterday she was angry at Naruto for talking to his random fangirls instead of listening to her.

But no, she was feeling particularly guilty today. Guilty about kissing Naruto. Guilty about not bothering to ask about Sasuke. It was her fault—she shouldn't have riled up Sasuke like that.

Yes, Sasuke was wrong in leaving them. But she was wrong for spewing out words she didn't mean. What she said six years ago to him—about her always being there for him…was and _still _true. She just didn't want to accept the fact.

She was afraid that if she started caring again, the dam she spent years working on, would be destroyed. _It's funny how things work_, Sakura silently mused, _she got more of a reaction from Sasuke by displaying a face of indifference, than showing that she actually cared. _

Sakura stole a glance at Sasuke, only to see him casually eating as if nothing has happened. She sighed, maybe she was imagining things, after all…why would Sasuke even be interested?

Her eyes lingered on him, and as if he read her mind, Sasuke looked up. He witnessed Sakura's eyes widen and quickly looked away.

At first, he was peeved that Sakura had dared to look away. Then he smirked at the sight of her blushing and thought maybe he hasn't completely lost her to Naruto yet. And he'll confirm this theory soon. _Very soon. _

"Yo, Dickless." Sai's voice rang out.

"I'LL KILL YOU, STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

"Tsunade-sama wants to see you in her office." Sai chose to ignore him and turned to Sakura, "And hi, Ugly."

Whatever silence there had been was broken, as Sakura stood up and threatened to beat him to a pulp.

Sasuke silently watched the scene unfold before him. A wave of nostalgia washed over him—it used to be only the three of them, and he felt as though Sai has rudely intruded in on their team 7 breakfast.

He didn't like this Sai fellow, not only because the guy managed to conjure up a completely nonsensical nickname for Sakura, but because Sai was even more emotionally stunted than he was. At least Sasuke didn't go around asking absurd, and not to mention—inappropriate questions.

"Do I have to go nowwww? I'm still eating!" Naruto whined.

Sakura swatted his arm. "Of course you have to go now!" Tsunade didn't take tardiness very well, and if she found out Naruto made her wait because he wanted to finish his bowl of _ramen, _there would be a lot of yelling.

"But I don't want to leave you alone with the teme!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked irritably.

Naruto shrugged. The real reason was because he didn't want Sasuke to say anything that may make Sakura like him again. He wanted their relationship to be simply platonic and nothing more.

"It's okay, Naruto. I'm done anyway…I'll just walk home." Naruto wasn't the only one who felt that way. Sakura was just simply not ready to talk to Sasuke—despite knowing he won't have long to live.

_Stop thinking like that. Tsunade-sama would never let the last Uchiha die! _Sakura thought silently to herself.

If he could, Sasuke would have laughed at Sakura's naivety. She honestly thought she could escape from him.

"Well…I'll see you guys later." Sakura said slowly, offering a small wave.

As soon as she vanished in the crowd, Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"Don't try anything." Naruto warned.

Sasuke smirked, clearly noting the threat in that statement. "Hn."

Naruto frowned, not liking the look on Sasuke's face. He may have only answered with another monosyllable, but he understood the implication behind it. _Damn you, Sasuke…_

Just as Naruto was about to open his mouth, Sai gripped his arm forcefully and dragged him out of his seat. "SAI, I'M NOT DONE WITH HIM. SAI, LET GO." Naruto struggled, _for someone so skinny, he sure has a freaking painful grip. _However, when he turned his head back to Ichiraku's—Sasuke's seat was already empty.

* * *

Sakura had two options right about now.

One—head to the hospital and stay there for the rest of the night so she could stop thinking about Sasuke.

Or two—go to the training fields and practise her taijustsu so she could stop thinking about Sasuke.

_Ugh. This is so frustrating. Stupid Uchiha. Stupid good for noth—_

"Sakura."

Sakura jumped. She mentally scolded herself for being so deep in thought—some ninja she is...someone could have easily attacked her and she wouldn't even have time to retaliate.

This was the second time in a row that Sasuke had sought her out. Sakura thought this was highly impossible considering the old Sasuke would have wanted nothing to do with her.

A small part of her wanted to believe that maybe Sasuke has finally decided that she was worthy of his attention. However, she knew she was just being overly hopeful.

Clasping her hands behind her back and feigning a forced smile, Sakura turned to the raven-haired boy. "Hm?"

_Oh great, now you're starting to sound like him too. _Sakura secretly wondered if speaking in monosyllables was contagious.

"Can we talk?"

Sakura's smile froze on her face. _What?!_ She laughed nervously through her gritted teeth. She was so tempted to test if she was caught in a genjustsu. _Never, _in all the years she's known Sasuke, had he ever wanted to be alone with her for more than a split second (let alone _talk_).

Something just wasn't right…

Sakura raised her eyebrow. "With me?"

Sasuke was not amused—was this her way of frustrating him? And why the hell did she laugh… he certainly didn't find this situation particularly funny in any way. "I don't see another Sakura around." Sasuke stated blankly.

Before she could reply, Sasuke added, "Come."

* * *

She stared in disbelief as Sasuke started walking through the crowd. He came here and automatically assume that she'd bow down to his every command? Did he not think that maybe she had something important to do?

Sakura thought that he must be out of his mind for her to follow him…yet her feet seemed to have ignored her thoughts and had a mind of their own accord.

Because, here she was—standing in front of him, on their usual training grounds. She mentally shook her head—_Sakura, you're pathetic. _

They stared at each other, none of them willing to speak first. Sakura wanted to say something to break the awkward silence, but she wasn't about to start conversation when _he _was the one who wanted to talk.

To show her impatience, she took a deep breath, crossed her arms, and looked expectantly at Sasuke.

After what felt like hours, Sasuke finally spoke. "Have dinner with me."

The expression on Sakura's face was priceless. He saw a range of emotions—shock, disbelief, and it finally settled on something between the lines of disgust and anger.

"_What?" _Sakura asked incredulously.

Sasuke was starting to think Sakura was hard of hearing. "Have dinner with me."

"I heard what you said!"

"Then it's settled."

"WHAT?! NO! This is not _settled. _First of all, you didn't ask—"

"I just did."

Sakura scoffed. "You are so unbelievably obnoxious! What makes you think I'll go out with you now?"

Sakura still remembered those days when _she _was the one doing the asking. And what did she get? Flat out rejection, every single time. _Oh, how the tables have turned._

"So is that a yes?"

"No."

"Why not?" Sasauke snapped.

Sakura shrugged. "I just don't want to."

Sakura didn't see a point in this conversation. It was clear that he couldn't tolerate her, so why was he asking…

Her hand touched her neck unconsciously—till this day, she can still remember the pressure of his hand on her neck.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Sasuke flinch slightly.

"Sakura…" His voice was softer. "I—"

"Just tell me what you want, Sasuke." Sakura murmured.

Something tugged at his heart when he heard her voice. He quickly dismissed it as guilt and stepped forward. "Sakura…I want to explain."

Sakura's eyes flew to his. "Why?" her voice came out barely as a whisper. "It didn't matter to you before…why does it matter now?"

Sasuke swallowed and ran a hand through his dark locks. It hurt to see her like this, and he knew it was his fault. _His fucking fault. _He could hear her voice cracking, her shoulders trembling.

He stepped closer. "Sakura, just…just hear me out."

"NO!" Tears stung her eyes, threatening to fall. She stumbled back, trying to create some space between her and Sasuke. "You tried to kill me…"

Sasuke took her elbow and pulled her back. "I—"

"You let Madara kill me." The tears leaked from Sakura's eyes.

Sasuke hated himself—he did nothing but make her cry. He made her cry six years ago when he left Konoha, and he still had this effect on her.

Sakura flinched as he gently wiped the tears away with his thumb.

"Please don't…" Sakura whispered.

"I'm sorry, Sakura."

"I said don't—"

"I'm sorry."

"STOP!" Sakura tried wrenching her arm out of Sasuke's grasp and when she couldn't, she resolved to hitting his chest with her other fist. "Why—why are you doing this?" Sakura said in between sobs.

He felt the beating from her fist weaken, and he took the chance to completely pull her into his arms. When she didn't make the effort to pull away, he rested his chin on her head, taking in her scent.

"I can't change what I did, Sakura. But I apologize," he murmured into her hair. "I owe you that much."

Sakura hated herself. She wanted to shove him away, but instead, her hands clutched onto his shirt and pull him closer. Ever since she was little, she had always dreamed of Sasuke holding her…but this was not how she imagined it.

From the moment Sasuke step foot back into Konoha, she knew this sickening heartache would resurface. What she didn't account for was how much it would hurt the second time around.

The infatuation for Sasuke was long gone, and what she felt for him now…scared her. It had taken her every ounce of determination to not fall into depression after agreeing to kill Sasuke two years ago. It wasn't something she wanted to do—but had to do. It was the only way to save him.

If anything, she'd rather Sasuke die by her hands.

But the encounter at the bridge only proved one thing. Regardless of what Sasuke has become, she would never truly be able to end his life.

_She loved him too much. _

That's why she couldn't get involved in this again. Sasuke had received the death sentence as a punishment—and she didn't know if her heart would be able to handle it. Because there was no escape this time. Sasuke would die.

"Sakura, just once. Have dinner with me." It was as close to a plea as it could get.

"What's the point," Sakura shook her head. "You're going to die anyway."

Sasuke's stomach dropped at her comment.

Sasuke felt her unclenching her fists from his shirt. He didn't want to let her go—but he had to at this moment. It wasn't the time to tell her the truth yet, because if she knew, he'd lose her altogether.

Wiping the remaining tears from her face with the back of her hand, Sakura stepped back and removed herself from Sasuke's arms.

"I should go…"

Seeing as Sasuke had no reaction to her statement, Sakura slowly dragged her feet across the field.

* * *

Unbeknownst to his teammates, Naruto had witnessed the whole interaction. He didn't even need to fully mask his chakra—both Sasuke and Sakura were absorbed in the conversation, they didn't even feel his presence.

He rested his head against the rough tree trunk.

Naruto laughed bitterly—he knew this was inevitable, just… he didn't think Sakura would crumble so soon.

* * *

Sasuke turned his eyes back to Sakura's still form. He could tell that her case of insomnia was the result of the earlier conversation from this morning.

Spying was wrong, but Sakura wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep tonight. He didn't understand when Sakura started getting under his skin. Everywhere he went, he saw pink. His dreams at night were driving him insane, and he would often wake up in the morning, panting and wanting more.

Some people call this karma, but Sasuke thought it was just a pain in the ass.

* * *

**A/N: **Hello, beautiful readers! I know it's been two weeks since I've last updated...but school's been pretty hectic. I hope you guys liked this chapter though! Sasuke's reasonings for everything will be revealed...soon, so hang on!

I appreciate all the wonderful reviews. It makes me so happy when someone tells me what they like about the story. It makes writing more worthwhile :)

I already have the ideas for the next chapter (Christmas special, anyone?!) and hopefully, it'll liven up the atmosphere.

Don't forget to click the review button!

-PEACE!

PS: The title of this story was actually inspired by Taylor Swift's song "Red". The lyrics to this song describes the relationship between Sasuke and Sakura really well. I can't even listen to the song without getting all emotional. I totally blame my inner Sasusaku fangirl.


	5. Chapter 5: Mistletoe

**RED**

**Chapter 5: Mistletoe **

* * *

Afternoons like this were rare in the shinobi world. Missions usually took up most of their days, and they increased along with the ninja rank. That's why he had decided to stay at Jounin level — to stop his mother from nagging of course, and mostly because working in the strategic department meant fewer A-ranked missions.

It was a misconception that Shikamaru enjoyed overly complicated situations. He wholeheartedly believed that the simplest things in life are worth the most. That's why after a long day of solving complex problems, he'd let his brain indulge in his favourite mundane activity — cloud watching.

No Ino, no nagging, no complaints, no —

"I knew you'd be here."

And… no _Sakura. _

"Hey."

Sakura took the seat next to where Shikamaru was laying. It took very little time tracking down Shikamaru — if he wasn't with Ino and Chouji, then he was on top of the Hokage Mountain watching clouds float by.

Silence fell between them like like a blanket. For the next while, Sakura leaned back on her hands and replayed the last couple of days in her head. It seems as though conversations between her and Sasuke never end on a good term…Maybe they weren't fit to be friends after all.

Ever since Sasuke's return, everything in her life has taken a downward spiral. And it wasn't like she was an expert at keeping her emotions at bay either — just last week, one of her interns accidentally mixed up two medical charts and she had failed to notice. That resulted in her telling the wrong patient that he had lung cancer.

Then yesterday, she walked right into the medicine trolly cart and knocked it over. The nurses had to spend the entire morning reorganizing and labelling the drugs and pills so the patients could get their medication on time.

Needless to say, Tsunade had called her into the office and requested that she take the week off to get herself together. Not that Sakura could blame her mentor — the hospital was busy enough already, they didn't need her messing things up just because a certain Uchiha was back in town.

Sakura groaned and laid down beside the one person that could possibly offer her some advice. Not like she didn't value the friendship between her and Ino…but she was just no Shikamaru.

"Alright, what do you want?"

Sakura leaned onto her side. "What makes you think I want something?"

"Well, I didn't peg you for the type of girl who watches clouds for fun."

Sakura let out a soft laugh. "I love you, you know that?"

Shikamaru turned his head to his right and raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you should let Naruto hear that… I don't want a Rasengan to my heart."

Sakura smiled. "Too bad then. He'll just have to deal with it."

"Troublesome woman…" Shikamaru muttered, "It's about him, isn't it?"

The thinning of her lips and furrowing of her brows indicated that Shikamaru was right. He watched as Sakura sat up and started playing with the hem of her skirt.

"I hate you." Sakura sighed.

"That's funny, didn't you just tell me you loved me?"

"I'm serious!"

Shikamaru saw her distressed look and got up to face Sakura. "I think you're speaking with the wrong person. Shouldn't you be talking to him instead?"

"I already did…and that's why I'm here." Sakura said dejectedly, "I think…I think he wants to start over. Either that or he's pulling something."

"But that's what you and Naruto have always wanted," he pointed out.

"I know," she exasperated, "that's what I initially thought too. I thought that everything would fall into place if he just came back. But, it doesn't! Six years does a lot to people, and I feel like I don't even know the guy anymore!" Sakura was going into hysterics. The elastic has been stretched far enough for the past month and it was at its snapping point.

She had to put on the calm facade when she was around Naruto and her parents. She didn't want to talk to Ino about this subject, because knowing the blonde, she'd probably tell her to jump Sasuke at any chance she got (_completely _inappropriate in Sakura's opinion).

If it wasn't for the lazy genius, Sakura truly believe she would have to start confiding in a rock, or tree hole, or_ something_ to vent out her frustration.

"Maybe you should start over then, you know, as friends."

Sakura scoffed. "Friends? I don't even think he knows the meaning of that word."

"That's because he didn't have many to begin with." Shikamaru reasoned. Taking the chance that she hasn't responded yet, he added: "He only had you and Naruto…and he left before the friendship could develop further."

"What are you trying to say?"

Shikamaru looked the sullen kuniochi — Sakura had always been strong in his eyes, but when it came to the subject of Sasuke, she was like any other vulnerable woman in love.

"Look…I'm not helping him, but I think it would do you _and _Naruto some good, if you gave him a second chance. Before it's too late."

Sakura stared at the ground with the last couple of words ringing in her head. "Before it's too late…"

"Before he's gone."

"He was already gone once."

"Sakura, it's not the same. Six years ago, Sasuke may have left, but you guys still had a chance at bringing him back. If he gets executed — he'll never come back. Do you understand?"

The corners of her eyes stung. She lost count at how many times the topic of Sasuke's sentence brought her to tears. She avoided the talk about Sasuke's sentence like the plague — mostly because she just couldn't handle _not _seeing him for the rest of her life. She thought he would never get this treatment due to the fact that he was the last standing Uchiha — but clearly someone voted against it.

And when she couldn't avoid this talk, she would put up the wall of indifference. Unfortunately, these tricks didn't seem to work with Shikamaru, who read her like an open book.

"Well…unless you pull an Orochimaru and perform the Edo Tensei…"

Sakura whipped her head to look at him, lips trembling slightly before letting out a genuine laugh.

"I can't believe you. Trust you to make a joke out of this." She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Didn't know you could make any."

"There's a lot you don't know."

"Oh? And is that how you wooed Temari?" Sakura asked jokingly.

It was rare to see the genius flustered, but tips of Shikamaru's ears turned pink. "I don't know what your'e talking about."

Sakura laughed again. She loved talking to him — despite that he puts up such a nonchalant demeanor, Shikamaru is probably the person who cared about his friends the most. And in Sakura's opinion, any girl would be lucky to have Shikamaru in their life.

She gave him a quick hug before rising on her feet. "But seriously…thanks. I'll keep what you said in mind."

"Give him a second chance, even if he doesn't fully deserve it…because the Sakura I know believes that everyone deserves forgiveness."

"But I'm still not on his sid—"

"Just letting you know, if you ever decide that Temari's not the woman for you… I better be the next choice," Sakura teased as she continued walking.

Before rounding the corner, she could've sworn she heard him mutter: "Like hell you are…"

Sakura smiled and shook her head. _Temari, you better not let this one go._

* * *

Sasuke could only name one person who would even remotely want to be associated with him at the moment, but if Naruto wanted to meet up, he'd just barge into his house and babbled until Sasuke kicked him out. So when he saw the messenger bird fly towards him, he was extremely curious as to who else besides the dobe would want anything to do with him.

He had recognized the handwriting almost immediately. His heart soared a little thinking that maybe there was still a chance with Sakura after all. The message had been short and simply instructed that he meet her at the bridge from when they used to meet up for missions.

It wasn't until he saw a patch of blond hair did he realize that she also invited someone else.

So here he was, elbows resting on the railing, standing across Naruto, both eagerly waiting for their pink teammate.

At one point in time, Sasuke refused to believe that Naruto would ever surpass him — whether it was in ninja abilities or the fact that Naruto would never get the attention of Sakura.

But he was very wrong. And because of this ignorance and arrogance, Naruto now stood on equal grounds. He went from being dead last in their Academy class to running next in line for the title of Hokage. His vast improvement in skills alone would have ignited Sasuke's competitive side, but it wasn't only that. It was Sakura's change in affection for this blond haired idiot that caused ripples in his heart.

Sasuke had no one to blame besides himself. He didn't expect Sakura to wait for him after all these years, however, it still stung knowing that she had already started to move on.

Now, his world was filled with what-if's. What if he had taken her with him to sound? What if he never left? What if he had listened to Kakashi, and instead of pursuing the route of revenge, stayed in Konoha?

The dynamics of Team 7 had changed. What they had once, was now separated with a wall of awkwardness. Naruto was the only one who made an effort in trying to restore their team spirit, but without Sakura, Sasuke knew it was a fruitless attempt.

Sasuke's head snapped up, just in time to see Naruto doing the same. The sound of sandals shuffling caused them to turn their heads towards the approaching teammate.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura gave a gentle wave and walked over to Naruto. That simple action caused Sasuke's eyes to narrow slightly. There she went again — giving Naruto the attention first. It wasn't until he saw them both looking expectantly up at him, did his anger flare. They expected _him _to walk over and join them, as if _he _was an outsider, and that _he _was the third wheel.

"Sasuke…please?" The softening of her eyes was all it took for him to release the breath he was holding and sauntered over.

"Why is he here?" he demanded.

"Oh…I—I thought it would be a good idea for us to talk…" Sakura began hesitantly.

"We can talk just fine."

"Just listen to her!" Naruto snapped.

Sakura gently patted Naruto on the arm. "It's okay, Naruto."

"Look, if you two are here to flaunt your relationship in front of me, I'm leaving." Sasuke gritted through his teeth. _Was he that invisible to them?_

"No! Sasuke, it's not like that!" Sakura pleaded, "I just don't want us to fight again."

What Sasuke originally thought was a private meeting between him and Sakura, turned out to be some form of truce session. He wasn't pleased by this. "Just tell me what you want." He said impatiently.

"I want Team 7 back," she murmured, "it's my only wish…"

"Sakura—chan…"

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke answered sourly.

"IT DOES MATTER, SASUKE!" Sakura sobbed, "IT MATTERS TO ME, AND IT MATTERS TO NARUTO!"

Till this day, Sasuke was still surprised at the newly confident Sakura. A part of him was happy that he still mattered to her, but another part scolded himself for making her angry when she was already making an effort.

"Look, Sasuke, I know you may think that I hate yo—"

"I never thought that," Sasuke scoffed, "if you hated me, then you would have left me alone when I tried kicking you out of my house."

Naruto chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head, "Whoops."

Looking at the banter between Naruto and Sasuke lightened up her mood. _This is going well so far._ "And, um, for the record, I don't hate you either." She confessed.

Both Naruto and Sasuke turned to look at her. "What? I didn't want to be left out again." Sakura pouted. "You guys always used to do that."

Sasuke smirked and took a step closer to Sakura. "I already know you don't."

Her cheeks flushed when he realized the implication of his comment. He was pointing at the fact that she was probably still a fangirl. _How very wrong he is, _she thought.

"Sooooo, are we good?"

"Hardly, Naruto. This is only the start. I mean — Uchiha over here has to do a lot more to win us back," Sakura poked Sasuke on the arm.

"Win you back?" Sasuke questioned.

"Of course! You have to make an effort to take us out to dinner, train with us, _talk _to us, and most importantly — start treating us like we're your friends!"

"Hn."

"Good."

"I agree that I can take you out, but I don't want this dobe there," Sasuke shrugged.

"W—what, n—no! When did you learn to talk like this?" she stuttered, "Don't pretend to ask me out on a date to get ride of Naruto."

"I didn't say date." Sasuke witnessed that the light pink of her cheeks deepened to a dark shade of red. He deemed it to be a very suitable colour on her.

However, before Sakura could argue back, Naruto ran past them.

"Naruto! Where are you going?" Sakura was worried — she didn't want him to think that she forgot about him. Things were _just _starting to turn up. Naruto had a tendency to feel overshadowed by Sasuke whenever she was around, therefore she promised herself to pay more attention to him whenever the team got together.

Sakura blinked at Sasuke's impassive face and gestured that they should go after him.

"Where are you going?! NARUTO?" She yelled as she ran after Naruto.

When she finally caught up, Sakura noticed that she was standing in front of Naruto's apartment with the door slightly ajar. With Sasuke right behind her, she whispered, "What do you think he's doing?"

Sasuke reached around her and pushed the door open, only to be met with a scroll in the face.

"What the fuck?" Sasuke growled.

"What is that smell?!" Sakura exclaimed in horror as she covered her nose, "Naruto! When was the last time you cleaned your place?!"

To say his apartment was messy was the understatement of the year. It was a mystery as to how he could even stand sleeping in this pigsty of a house. To make things worse, Naruto was rummaging through a box of what looked like scrolls in his closet.

"FOUND IT!" Naruto huffed, holding a blue scroll in hand. "Okay guys, ready?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke and raised her eyebrow before peering over the opened scroll. "Naruto…? What's in there?"

"See, I've been working on this for the past week now." He began, "This. This is how we're going to stage teme's breakout!" Naruto turned to grin at the stoic Uchiha.

Silence.

"NARUTO, YOU IDIOT!" Sakura landed a punch on Naruto's head, causing him to fly directly back into the closet. "WHAT WOULD TSUNADE-SAMA THINK? WHAT KIND OF FUTURE HOKAGE HELPS A CRIMINAL RUN AWAY?"

Sasuke watched as Sakura hauled the moron up by the collar and shook him whilst yelling at how stupid his plan was.

_Team 7, still dead last in terms of cooperation, _Sasuke thought as he leaned his body against the nearby wall, turning away to conceal the tiniest of a smile. Both of them still never failed to entertain him.

* * *

Sakura kneaded her right shoulder with the other hand as she dragged her feet up the stairs. After plummeting Naruto to the ground yesterday, they all went out for ramen and sparred for the first time in over six years as Team 7.

Sasuke had severely underestimated her, and was caught by surprised as he took a hefty kick to the stomach. _That showed him, _she mused. But it didn't take long for Sasuke to realize the importance of dodging her physical attacks. Soon afterwards, he switched to using longer ranged jutsus and successfully pinned her to the ground in the end.

She forgot how tiring — yet completely satisfying it was training with her teammates. When she rolled out of bed this morning, her muscles screamed in pain and she was suddenly thankful that Tsunade had granted her the week off.

Sakura looked up when she heard footsteps coming down the hall. Shizune was carrying a large stack of what looked like paperwork and the remnants of a broken sake bottle on a tray.

"Looks like Tsunade-sama's working hard today." Sakura smiled as she pointed to the broken bottle pieces, "Here, let me help you with that."

"Sakura! That's alright, I got it. Tsunade-sama's just a little frustrated that her favourite student isn't here to help out." Shizune winked. "Looking for her?"

"Yeah…I just need to ask her something."

"Well, be careful. She just ran out of sake." Shizune sighed, "I'm going to fetch her more before she breaks something else."

Sakura grinned and waved goodbye to a retreating Shizune, "Thanks for the heads up!"

She walked up to Tsunade's door and knocked. As Tsunade's apprentice, she got all kinds of special treatments, but Sakura wasn't sure that her mentor will grant the request she was about to pose.

"Come in, Sakura."

Sakura shuffled in and clasped her hands behind her back. "Shishou."

"If you're here about your hospital duty, you can save it. You're not coming back to work this week."

"Actually…" Sakura said shyly, "It's about Sasuke."

Tsunade's pen paused in mid-sentence. "The Uchiha."

She put her pen down and regarded her student with a blank face. "I thought you didn't want to talk about him."

"I didn't."

"Oh?" Tsunade asked expectantly, "What changed?"

_Here goes. _"Tsunade-sama…isn't there something you can do about his death sentence?" She begged, "I know he's done some horrible things, but he did help take down Madara, and some Akatsuki members!"

"Sakura…"

"An—and, he's the last surviving Uchiha! That accounts for _something, _right? What about the Sharingan? Konoha will lose such a precious bloodline limit!"

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Sakur —"

"Tsunade-sama, please! He's our teammate!" Sakura cried, "You understand, don't you? To lose someone important to you…"

"Are you done?"

"I know that you can't just decide this on your own, but I'm willing to speak with the council and get others to testify, and —"

"SHUT UP!" Tsunade slammed both her hands on her desk.

Waiting for her mentor to calm down, Sakura attempted to speak again. She had to do this. She can't let Sasuke die. "Shish—"

"Sakura. What are you even talking about?" Tsunade tried massaging her temples, _where's that sake…_

Sakura blinked. "I—I'm talking about Sasuke?"

Tsunade let out a breath, "I know. Why are you even here? His sentence was lifted weeks ago. Didn't he tell you?"

Sakura's stunned face answered her question. "I'm guessing he didn't, huh."

"_What?"_

"After much consideration with the council — which, by the way, have gotten a bit of a change, and talking with the other Kages, we all decided that the Sharingan would be highly beneficial for the village, especially when we're still suffering from the aftermath of the war."

Sakura shook her head in confusion, trying to process all this new information. "Change within the council? Other Kages? Wait, so you mean…Sasuke isn't going to be executed?"

"Well, that's the idea. The Raikage had originally been adamant on the Uchiha's death sentence, but seeing as Sasuke didn't successfully capture the Eight-Tails, he didn't really have a reason to demand such a punishment."

"Then what about the elders? I know they still hold a grudge against the Uchihas, they wouldn't be so lenient as to letting Sasuke live though…"

"You have Shikaku and Inoichi to thank for that. They argued that since both Homura and Koharu had taken part in the decision for the Uchiha massacre, they are to step down as council members. And naturally, as the eyes and ears of the fourth war, it would only be suitable if those positions went to Shikaku and Inoichi."

"Wait, so let me get this straight. New council. No death sentence." Sakura enunciated every single word just to make sure she got this right.

"I see you're still processing all this." Tsunade reached for her pen again, "But can you do that somewhere else, all this work is driving me insane. Go away."

Still dazed, Sakura almost knocked into Shizune, who was bringing in a new sake bottle. "Sakura, are you alright?"

"Huh? Yeah, yeah."

_Sasuke's not going to die. _

_He's staying for good…_

_Didn't tell her. _

"THAT BASTARD!"

* * *

"Oi, teme! Is that the best you've got?"

"Shut up, idiot."

"Looks like I'm the strongest after all!" Naruto gloated. "And after my win yesterday, it's 2—0 Naruto!"

"This isn't over, don't get so ahead of yourself." Sasuke bit back.

"Bow down to your future Hok—"

"UCHIHA. SASUKE!"

Both turned their heads to the approaching pink-haired teammate. Sasuke furrowed his brows, wondering why she was so angry, just as a fist connected with his jaw and a sickening crack was heard. "YOU FUCKING JERK!"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Sakura-chan!"

"You fucking liar!"

"What the hell, Sakura!"

"Hey, hey, Sakura-chan, what's wrong? What did he do?"

"Naruto!" Sakura sobbed, "He lied to us! Tsunade got rid of the stupid death sentence weeks ago, and he didn't tell us! That stupid, _stupid_ ass made us worry for nothing!"

"W—what?" Naruto asked, looking back and forth from Sasuke to the sobbing Sakura. "So you're going to live?"

Sasuke avoided eye contact with Sakura. He knew it was a low move to lie to her, and he regretted it ever since. But at the time, his anger consumed his thoughts and he was afraid that she would choose Naruto instead.

He knew the truth would get out eventually, but Sasuke was going to confess soon enough, after making sure that she still held a place for him. Facing Sakura's wrath didn't scare him, but looking into her disappointed eyes — green with tears, made his heart go haywire.

What would she think of him now? Would she stop befriending him after finding out the truth? At this moment, he just wanted her to stay by his side, and if their relationship only remained at the friendship stage — then so be it.

"Yeah…" he finally answered in a deadpan tone.

Naruto threw his arms up. "That's great, teme! Now I don't have to go through the trouble and break you free!"

Sasuke glared in astonishment. "That's it?"

"Well, yeah! We should go celebrate! Maybe we should call out the others and throw a party!"

"Stop yelling, N—Narut—to," Sakura hiccuped. "That moronic, stupid, foolish, ass of a man doesn't deserve it."

That's when Sasuke became fully aware — he was so worried that Sakura would hate him, he didn't notice the signs of relief when she was yelling at him. She was _happy_ that he didn't have to die. She was…happy.

And it now became clearer than ever. She was trying to cover up the half smile with her hand, and those tears — those were tears of relief.

"I guess I can continue annoying you then, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto snickered.

"Not if I kill him first," Sakura challenged.

Sasuke stared into her eyes mischievously and smirked. "Hn. Like you could."

* * *

"Sakura! You made it!" Ino screamed through the loud music. "I love your dress!"

Sakura smiled and thought that Ino was probably already tipsy from the drink she was holding. Weeks had gone by and the grounds of Konoha was now covered in a sheet of white snow. She just finished a ten hour shift at the hospital and rushed to Ino's annual Christmas party. Ino had threatened to bring the party to her office if she didn't show up. And after countless times, Sakura learned that Ino didn't initiate empty threats.

It's not that she complained though — Ino always threw the best parties. Her house was decorated in an assortment of lights and ornaments. A huge Christmas tree was in the corner of the living room. One good thing about being in a shinobi family was that they had the ability to cut down real pine trees every year.

Suddenly, she smelled a waft of chocolate. "You look like you could use a drink."

Sakura looked up to see Kiba offering her a mug of hot chocolate — although she highly doubt it's _just_ hot chocolate.

"You have no idea." Sakura took a sip. She was right, although the drink was sweet enough, she could still faintly taste the rum. "I didn't know you're playing the role of waiter tonight."

Kiba winked. "Only for you."

Sakura stifled a laugh. "Save those lines for Ino, they don't work on me."

"Would it help if I bought Akamaru over here? You know, chicks dig guys with dogs." He said playfully.

"Nice try. Shouldn't you go back to your game of whatever?" She pointed over at a circle of people by the fireplace.

A flustered Neji was trying to ignore Lee, who was shoving his teammate over to a blushing Tenten. "Neji! As a gentleman, you must honour your commitment to this game! You chose dare, and now you must kiss Tenten on the cheek!"

"Ha. I'll go back when Neji has the balls to kiss Tenten." Kiba snorted. "It's been like that for a while now."

"Yo, can you help me get something from the kitchen?" Ino asked as she sauntered back over.

"Roger that!"

"Wow, he sure listens to you…"

"Jealous?"

"As if, Ino-pig."

"That's true. I should be more jealous of you, actually." Ino nudged her lightly.

"What are you saying?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I don't know, walk around. Maybe you'll see something... or rather, _someone_ you like." Ino giggled as she flipped her hair and headed back to the kitchen.

_Okay…_Sakura had no idea what that implication meant, but then again, Ino always spoke in code.

Sakura refilled her cup and made her way to the back, trying to get away from the loud music and screaming Konoha shinobis. Unlike hers, Ino's house had a really nice mahogany porch. Maybe she could escape the evening's dreadful truth or dare game and quietly sip her drink outside.

Her hand was on the handle when a tug at her elbow made her turn, eyes landing straight on the face of Uchiha Sasuke.

"You're late."

"Huh?" she asked in daze. "O—oh, yeah. I had to finish my shift at the hospital."

They were standing so close that she felt the heat emitting from his body. It was odd considering Sasuke was one to liked his personal space.

"I didn't know you were coming? I didn't think you'd be interested."

"The idiot dragged me." He answered bluntly, leading her away from the backdoor.

"Oh, okay… uh. Want some?" She asked, offering him the cup of hot chocolate.

"I don't like sweet things."

"Right…" She murmured.

Sasuke paused to look at her. _He did hate sweet things…but — _he suddenly took the cup that was still in Sakura's hand and put it to his lips.

Sakura's mouth dropped.

"This tastes like crap." He declared.

Suddenly aware that her hand was still underneath his, she pulled back immediately and looked around, trying to change subjects.

"Oh look at that funny thing. What kind of weird plant is that?" She rambled nervously and walked over to the strange, yet _familiar _looking green plant tied with a red ribbon.

Her mind went blank. Perhaps she was still slightly shaken by Sasuke's touch, because for some reason, she couldn't remember what that plant was called.

"It's a mistletoe, Sakura."

She turned back to him, eyes widened in horror. _Oh god. Oh god god god. _"A mist—"

The rest of the word was muffled against Sasuke's lips.

He kissed her.

When Sasuke drew back, Sakura swore that her heart was going to break through her ribcage. She had dreamed of kissing him ever since they were young, and thought that it would probably be some highly magical moment.

_This _though, was not what she expected. Her pulse was racing and she was trying her hardest to regulate her breathing. All this from a simple kiss from Sasuke.

She didn't need to spell it out to know that she was in _deep_ trouble.

"Hn. That's funny. It tastes better on you." He whispered, referring to the spilled drink on the ground.

Sakura bit her lips and blushed fifty shades of red.

* * *

**A/N: **Yay for some Shikamaru love! For those who read the manga...I am legitimately going to ignore chapter 613 and 614. Such a mood kill.

But that aside, Merry Christmas!

I appreciate all the reviews I've gotten for the last chapter, and I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday.

Eat loads over the break, and I shall see you all next time :)


	6. Chapter 6: Throwback Thursdays

**RED**

**Chapter 6: ****Throwback Thursdays **

* * *

Her hands were clutching the handles of the knife that was thrusted deep into her stomach. Blood was everywhere — seeping through her sweater and running down her arms. He was coming for her, she could see his shadow growing bigger as she pushed herself further against the wall.

The approaching figure stepped into the light and revealed a man without a face, holding a long machete.

Incoherent rasping noises were heard as she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Sakura, dammit. Shut up."

"AHHHH. SASUKE! STOP HIM!"

Suddenly, the faceless man, with his knife raised and ready to strike, froze.

"Hey! I was watching that!"

"No. You were screaming at that," Sasuke said irritably, tossing the remote onto the coffee table.

"Sakura-chan… for a medic _and_ a shinobi, you sure are a scaredy-cat."

"I wasn't scared!"

"Really? You've been yelling ever since the start of the movie. A movie you suggested that we watch."

"I…I was being _passionate _about the movie, that's all," Sakura huffed as she scooted closer to Naruto. Clearly, watching a horror movie with Sasuke was a bad idea.

"That's okay, Sakura-chan. That's why you have us!" Naruto grinned and took the opportunity to put an arm around her. "Well…you have me. Teme's a rock, he just sits there."

"How the hell did you guys pass becoming a ninja in the first place?" Sasuke drawled. He pretended not to notice the way Sakura was cozying up to the idiot. He blamed this stupid movie she had proposed they watch.

Sasuke was not one to watch long horror films (or films at all). They were time consuming and pointless. But Sakura seemed to have enjoyed them, and after the endless pleas and pouty faces — not to mention the annoying tugging on his shirtsleeve, he finally caved.

He vowed to never relent to Sakura's requests again. It seems as though ever since that kiss during Christmas, she has been using her feminine charms — if he could even call it that, more frequently.

He didn't like it. _Not one bit. _

From the corner of his eyes, Sakura reached for the remote again. However, before she could press play, Sasuke snatched it back. "We're not going through this again."

"Fine. You don't have to watch, but I want to finish the movie, thank you very much," Sakura sighed impatiently as she held out her hand, gesturing for the remote.

"Man, teme, stop being so lameeeee."

"Yeah, please, Sasuke-kun," Sakura tilted her head and once again, gave him that pouty look.

_This _ was what he was talking about. Apparently, you kiss a girl once, and you're doomed to be the target of these pouty persuasion tactics. Someone should have warned him beforehand about his implied rule…he wouldn't have kissed her and it would've saved him from all this trouble.

"Here, watch all you want," he gritted through his teeth. "I'm leaving."

"Wait—what? Why? You said you'd stay though," Sakura accused.

"You're giving me a headache," he replied.

"I'm giving you a headache?!" She shrieked.

"This is what I me—"

"What's up with you two lately? Gee—"

"Shut up, Naruto!"

"Whatever, I'm leaving."

Sakura clamped both her hands onto Sasuke's arm and pulled him back. "You're staying," she said dangerously.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and stepped closer. "Sakura, I'm sure you'll live without me here. It's only a movie."

"You know that's not what I mean," she whined. "It's rare when all of us have the day off, I just want us to be together…even if we don't anything."

"It's not like you have anything better to do, teme," Naruto added. "Hey! I got a great idea. Let's go get some ramen instead. We all win!"

"You idiot, that's your only idea."

"No no, I think he's right. If you don't want to listen to me _scream," _she reasoned, "then we should all go have lunch together!"

Naruto beamed. He rather enjoyed it whenever Sakura listened to his suggestions — especially those regarding his favourite food. "You could at least pay us back for making us help you with those lame D-rank missions."

"I never asked for your help," Sasuke scoffed. Those missions were a part of his so called _punishment, _and before he could retake the chunin exams again, he had to start from scratch, which included spending the afternoon helping old farmers weed out unwanted plants.

"But we helped anyway, because we're a team, Sasuke. So too bad, you're eating with us."

Sasuke relaxed and let out a breath, which in Uchiha speak was a _yes_.

Sakura grinned and mentally cheered. "Naruto, grab my stuff from my room and we can go."

He watched as the blond scurry to their teammate's room before turning the arm currently held by Sakura, and gently placing his hand on her elbow.

"You can let go now," he said lightly.

"I can."

"But you don't want to."

The laughter was soft and pleasant — something Sasuke enjoyed, especially when he was the cause. "I think your ego grew, though I didn't think that was even possible."

"Tch. You're not even doing it right."

Sakura gave him a confused expression, and wondered why his other hand was reaching for — _oh. _Oh.

A blush was creeping up as she watched his fingers laced hers, slowly dropping their arms. "Wh—hat.." She stuttered, feeling highly embarrassed by her reaction. _Jesus Christ, Sakura…get a hold of yourself. _

There was an unmistakable smirk that graced Sasuke's face as he whispered: "That's how you hold onto a guy."

She wanted to pinch herself to ensure that this wasn't a dream, and that these couple of weeks hadn't been a genjutsu. If so, it was _not _amusing. To others, Sasuke was still the emotionless ex-avenger with a pole up his ass, but she took notice of the most minuscular and subtle changes.

For one, though he was still as condescending as ever, his remarks were lined with an almost invisible hint of playfulness.

Secondly, Sasuke hated all forms of human contact and would prefer keeping inside of his personal bubble. Even now, he still keeps his distance, but she noticed that he no longer minded as much and didn't shrug Naruto's arm off.

The largest difference was yet to be mentioned — six years ago, if Sakura's fingers grazed his, he would be disgusted and he would be on the other side of the village. Recently, he's taken every opportunity to touch her — whether it's putting his knees next to hers at Ichiraku's, and now…holding her right hand, with his left one on her waist.

"Sas—"

"Uh…Sakura-chan, I hope by stuff, you mean your weapons pouch," Naruto interrupted, his face scrunched in confusion while he looked at the bag he was holding. "But I'm not really sure why you'd need this to eat ramen in the first place…"

Sakura snatched her hand back instantly and shoved Sasuke slightly backwards, creating a distance between them, choosing to ignore the dark look he was giving her.

"Seriously, when the hell are you going to tell the dobe?" He growled.

Sakura gritted her teeth. "Tell what? There's nothing to tell."

"Tell me what?" Naruto wondered.

"Oh, nothing. Just…just how hungry I am right now," she laughed nervously.

"Well then, let's go! I'm starving already!" Naruto exclaimed, taking Sakura's hand and proceeded to drag her out the door. "Hurry up, teme! We're not going to wait for you!"

"Um, excuse me."

The members of team 7 turned their heads to the voice. "Sai?"

"Hello, Hag."

Sakura's eyebrows twitched in irritation. "What's wrong with you? Do all you guys not know how to use the front door properly?! Get off my window sill, you're bringing in dirt!"

"I thought women liked surprises," Sai pointed out.

"Yeah, _good _surprises. This is more along the lines of creepy, you idiot."

Sai tilted his head in realization, but quickly regained his posture — smile ever so present on his pale face. "Tsunade-sama wants to see you and Naruto. Mission."

"Nowwwww?" Naruto protested. "But I'm hungry!"

"Yes, I believe the instructions were that you attend to this immediately," Sai stated blankly.

Sakura walked past the others to grab the medical pouch and forehead protector in her room, muttering in frustration: "Can't even spend a day with my team in _peace_."

* * *

There were a couple of things that Tsunade had on her hate list.

_Tardiness._ She had absolutely zero patience when it came down to waiting, so when Naruto and Sakura were late, she was already in a terrible mood.

As if based on that reason alone wasn't enough to infuriate her, Sai did not relay the message properly, and they had failed to follow proper instruction.

"What the hell is he doing here?" She demanded, eyeing the dark-haired male standing next to Sakura.

"Sasuke-kun insisted that he follow along under the justification that he's a member of team 7," Sai explained.

"Well, not today. He's still on probation, I can't allow him to leave the village."

"Why not?! Teme's not going to run away. I'll even vouch for him," Naruto promised and clapped Sasuke in the back, earning a glare from him.

"No. And that's my final answer. Get out."

"I'm going," Sasuke declared in anger. What if something happened to Sakura without him there? He would never forgive himself.

"Are you not listening to my orders, Uchiha? GET OUT!"

"I'm going even if you don't allow it."

"Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed nervously. She knew first handedly that her shishou's temper was one to be afraid of. And that was coming from her (according to her friends, her temper was already on the high end of the scale).

"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME? You ungrateful brat, you! You actually think you can bypass my guards?"

"Already did that once. I can do it again," Sasuke threatened.

Naruto's eyes widened.

Sakura winced.

Sai just smiled.

Tsunade was breathing heavily, fists clenched around the edge of her desk. _That stubborn ass, _she thought. She knew she was risking a lot by letting him go, but she had to admit defeat — with Sasuke's abilities, he could easily leave the village if he wanted to.

"You three," she snarled, "watch him at all times. He is not be left alone, or out of your sight. Do you understand?"

Naruto and Sakura gasped in surprise. "YES. GRANNY, YOU'RE THE BEST!"

"Shishou! You're letting Sasuke go with us?"

"I SAID, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama!" They chorused in pure bliss.

"Goddammit," Tsunaded exhaled, massaging her temples.

* * *

"I don't understand…what the hell man, this is a C-rank mission," Naruto burst out, throwing the mission paper back at Shizune.

Shizune sighed. She hated when Tsunade gave her the task of handling the mission papers. Especially when they include telling a certain loudmouthed blond that he had to take on a C-rank escort mission.

"Sorry, Naruto…Tsunade-sama assigned this."

"Hell no! I'm not going on this, I want something cool, exciting…tell her to give me an A-rank instead!"

"I can't do that, you and Sasuke are still genins."

"Then what about Sai and Sakura-chan?!"

"Well, you guys are a team, we didn't think you'd want to be separated."

"Tell that old hag that I'm no—"

"It's okay senpai, we'll take it from here," Sakura growled in annoyance at Naruto, and took a look at the mission.

"To escort Sato Hiroto back to the Land of Waves…wait. Seriously?" Sakura questioned, "Escort mission. Land of Waves. Really?"

Shizune looked puzzled and scratched her head. "Yeah, that's what it says…"

Sakura looked at her teammates in a mutual understanding, a tinge of nostalgia seeping in. Their first real mission as a team had an uncanny resemblance to the one they are currently assigned to.

She didn't know if this was God playing a trick on them, or if this was fate — the newly reinstated team 7 is going on an almost identical mission from six years ago.

"Bah, I guess this won't be as bad as I thought," Naruto laughed.

"I hope not… you know, as long as Sasuke-kun doesn't pull that stunt again," Sakura teased.

"Shut up," he smirked.

Sai was no stranger to team 7's odd behaviour, but he learned to never ask any one of them straight up. Shuffling over to Shizune, Sai whispered: "Shizune-san, do you know what they're talking about?"

Shizune _really_ hated Tsunade for making her put up with this. "Haven't got a clue," she murmured. "Stupid teenage hormones."

* * *

**A/N:** Hello lovelies! I apologize for the long wait, but I've been swamped with school...please forgive me. Also, hands up if you hate transition chapter (because I know I do) but unfortunately, they have to be slotted in, you know..to make way for the big stuff :)

The name _Sato Hiroto_ — I legitimately googled the top Japanese first and last names and put them together, haha. Power of the internet.

Thanks for all your wonderful reviews (don't forget to press the review button again)! And if you guys haven't already, check out my one-shots: _Beauty Queen_, and _Burning Bridges_. OH, and I'm thinking about doing this whole drabbles business, for those stories that can't really run as one-shots...but yeah. Maybe, maybe.

Till next time,

ciao!


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